Teacher accused of assault returns to class

The Collier County high school teacher accused of assaulting one of his students is back in the classroom. He has been cleared by the school district, but not by county or state investigators.

Tuesday, March 16th 2010, 5:10 PM EDT

Updated:

Tuesday, March 16th 2010, 6:19 PM EDT

COLLIER COUNTY: The Collier County high school teacher accused of assaulting one of his students is back in the classroom. He has been cleared by the school district, but not by county or state investigators.

The district's decision has Carol Bucci fired up. She fears her 16-year-old son isn't safe at school.

His English teacher at Barron Collier, Tom Davenport, had been removed from the school after her son accused him of shoving him and holding him in a headlock.

Even though the Collier County Sheriff's Office and Florida Department of Children and Families are both still investigating the possible assault, the school district is letting the teacher return to the classroom.

"They should have waited until the investigation is done. If it takes a month, so be it. This is a serious charge," said Bucci.

For the last few weeks, Davenport had been reassigned to the district's administration center.

But now that the district's investigation is over, he's back on the job at the school.

The district will only say it conducted an investigation of the incident. Several people were interviewed, including the complainant and the principal.

A decision was made to return the teacher to the classroom.

"Disappointed thinking that the school would have more sense than to do this," said Bucci.

Repeated attempts to reach Davenport have been unsuccessful.

Bucci says she has no choice but to send her son back to that class.

"No, it's not ok. It's not appropriate," said Bucci.

The district's findings may be released in 10 days, while the sheriff's office and DCF's investigations could take much longer.